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The Student News Site of Utica University

The Tangerine

The Student News Site of Utica University

The Tangerine

Faculty Profile: Jennifer Yanowitz

Source: utica.edu
Utica College
Source: utica.edu

Dr. Jennifer Yanowitz believes Utica College was the complete package when it came to fulfilling her passion for teaching students psychology in the ideal institutional setting. She is an associate professor of psychology here at Utica College.

Yanowitz has been teaching at UC for 13 years, and has enjoyed every moment to impact the students she interacts with. Her favorite subject to teach, she said, is social psychology.

“Social Psychology is what my PhD is in,” Yanowitz said. “I find it to be the most interesting class to teach and I am never tired of it.”  

In addition to social psychology, she also maintains a few intro to psychology) courses and a handful of other classes: one that she herself created called “Intimate Relationships,” and another known as “Theories of Personality.”

Before she came to Utica College she was attending graduate school at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. After receiving her PhD in social psychology, she says she found just what she was looking for when deciding to come to Utica College.

“I was looking for a small teaching focused school rather than a large research institution which is where I came from,” she said.  “I fell in love with teaching in graduate school, so I knew that this was where I wanted to be.”

She also said that it was very nice to get back to the east coast where her family and friends are.

Junior psychology major Kierra Caissey described Dr. Yanowitz as an easy going person, something she feels is an important quality for the faculty to have.    

“Dr. Yanowitz is very bubbly and easy to talk to, so she is more approachable,” she said.  “She really cares about her students.”  

Caissey was one of Dr. Yanowitz’s past students in her social psych class and now works as a TA for that same class.

“She is very clear about what her expectations are in the classroom and she outlines her courses really well.” Caissey said

Caissey said that Yanowitz is almost always in her office and comes to the college every day in a great mood. Her advice to students taking Dr. Yanowitz’s class is to study hard and enjoy all of the quirky and helpful videos.

Dr. Arlene Lundquist, a professor of psychology at Utica College, is a friend and colleague of Professor Yanowitz.

“She (Yanowitz) is always willing to help the fellow faculty, and her students speak very fondly of her” Lundquist said.  “Her style of teaching is very engaging, and she is very respectful of students and always involves them in her research,”

When not residing in the scholastic environment or grading stacks of papers, Yanowitz can most likely be found binge watching a new series on Netflix or enjoying a good movie.

“I am a big movie and TV fan, but right now my favorite TV series is “Outlander” and the series “Glow”, that is about the origin of women’s wrestling” she said.

Yanowitz also has other hobbies that are important to her, such as sitting on the board of directors for the local chapter of Zonta International. 

“We do a lot of projects in the community to enhance the lives of local women,” she said. 

Yanowitz can provide any student looking for more information in social psychology time to talk to discuss their future in their career or in her class. She offered advice to anyone taking one of her classes. 

“Give yourself time to study… especially the freshmen classes like the 101 sections because high school classes are much different than college level classes and always get enough sleep,” she said.

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